<p>This is my second year in US. I'm a US citizen but I've grown up in a foreign country before college, so I basically didn't know crap for my first year. I thought I could survive university easily but, that was not the case. I *****ed up big time for two semesters and was on Final Probation. </p>
<p>I did OK for my summer semester and the school placed me on Extended Final Probation at the beginning of this fall semester. I had a great start and was doing great on getting things back on track until my grandfather got sick with cancer a few weeks before mid-term. There was really nothing we could do because of the late discovery, and I just snapped after I received the sad news and got distracted. I did not realize that he was going to leave this world so fast and I don't want him to leave. I had insomnia and I couldn't focus. My grandfather passed away a week before Finals and I broke down; I couldn't study and I locked myself in my room staring at the photo of my grandfather. I went to exams as scheduled, but I didn't do well. </p>
<p>The school placed me on Dismissal due to my lack of progress. However, I knew I could do well, it was just that my grandfather got sick with cancer and passed away strike me harder than I could handle.
I've completed SAP form and turned it in. I wanted to meet with an adviser but I am not in the States. I can't leave until my grandfather's funeral.
Is there anything I can do to turn this around? I've written a letter of Appeal but I don't know who to send it to other then <a href="mailto:uud@msu.edu">uud@msu.edu</a>. Anyone know whom I can send it to?
I will also post it later when I am done revising. </p>
<p>Hate to tell you this, but when you were dealing with all of your grandpa’s health problems, you really should’ve approached your professors to tell them what was going on and they would’ve been way more likely to work with you to help you out grades-wise…or at least talked to an advisor/school counselor to get things straightened out. Now that you waited until you were already dismissed to address your class/grade issues, the chance that you will be able to get back on-board is a lot more unlikely - although I do wish you the best of luck. Definitely submit your letter of appeal and talk to whoever will listen about getting back to school.</p>
<p>bobbyfrisbee: I am planning to email it to them because… I don’t have a fax machine and I can’t locate one near by.
fa-la-la-lena: I was forbidden to talk to others about it because my family believed that if I did my grandfather’s condition would be worse. But thank you for your encouragement and advises.</p>
<p>So sorry about your grandfather. It sounds like your culture does not embrace full disclosure of medical issues. If that is the case, you should mention that in your appeal - the fact that your parents did not want you to tell anyone and you did not want to increase their anxiety at this sad time.</p>
<p>To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to appeal my academic dismissal from Michigan State University. I was not surprised to be dismissed from Michigan State University consider that I was distracted for half of the semester, but was very upset to receive the Confidential Message from the Office of the Registrar last week informing me of my dismissal. I would like to urge you to give me one last chance to let me get things back on track.
I admit that I was being immature and irresponsible for my freshman year at Michigan State University; I did not know what I wanted for life and thought I could graduate from university without putting much effort in, and my grades suffered as a result. I thought I could survive university, but I could not manage myself to do things that I needed to do. Over the summer, I worked to receive Final Extended Probation, but that wasn’t enough. I got sick of living in anxiety for the school to announce my fate at the end of each passed semester; it was a torture for both my family and me. Therefore, I decided to mature and take responsible for my life.<br>
At the beginning of the Fall Semester 2011, I understood that I was placed on Final Extended Probation so I worked hard to return to Good Standing, as I understood it was the last chance given and I need to reform my study habit in order for me to achieve my goal.
I am not making excuses for my poor academic performance, but I would like to explain the circumstances. I knew I registered for 13 credits for Fall Semester and it was not a lot of credits, and I thought taking less credits could help me pull my GPA up easier than taking lots of credits since there would be less workload to handle. I thought I could handle the workload of 13 credits, and I still think I could have, except that my grandfather got very sick with lung cancer before mid-term and eventually passed away a week before finals due to late discovery. My grandfather means a lot to me. He treated me as a piece of treasure and he would do anything for me if I asked. When I heard about my grandfather’s tragedy and, because of the late discovery, he might not survive this winter, I got distracted from school. I had insomnia and was not able to focus in class. I realized how less I cared about my grandfather and took everything he gave me for granted; I did not know that I was going to lose him that fast, so I started calling him at midnight because Taiwanese time zone is 13 hours ahead. I encouraged him to fight hard and to stay positive, and that I wanted him to eat dinners with him when I return to Taiwan every time I called, but he got worse as days went by. He left a week before Finals and I snapped; I did not know what to do and I locked myself in my room staring at the photo of my grandfather my family sent me. I could not study, so I failed. In retrospect, I should have searched for help from Student Counseling and talked to my professors (instead, I talked to no one about it because my family believed if I shared it my grandfather’s condition would be worse) and withdrew from school when I couldn’t focus. I thought I could handle the situation, but I was wrong.<br>
I love Michigan State University, and it would mean so much to me to graduate with a degree from this school, which would be my stepping stone that leads to my future success as a manager in one of the international hotel chains. During my stay in Taiwan, I’ve thought about what “life goal” means and developed a plan to achieve my life goal. I want to be a manager at an international hotel chain and that will be my life goal, so I need to invest in myself now by studying hard and be more active in pursuing knowledge. I will talk to my professors for advices and get to know them personally and visit them at least once every week during their office hours. I will also seek help from Student Counseling for advices on what to do if similar family tragedy occurs and ways that I find a balancing point between school and family. In addition, I will visit Undergraduate University Division advising weekly for an up-to-date performance report, and Learning Resource Center for tutoring for Accounting and Statistics (those two are my worst subjects). Also, I will take more general education courses instead of focusing on Hospitality Business courses to build a firm foundation. I’ve been skipping classes, not doing homework, and not studying for exams for my freshman year, but I’ve corrected myself this semester and developed a will to seek success in life and in school at the beginning of the Fall Semester 2011 and I plan to carry on.
Please understand that my low GPA that led me to my dismissal does not mean that I am a bad, lazy, stupid, or hopeless student. Really, I was doing my best and corrected my behaviors until my grandfather got really sick and everything went downhill from that point. I hope you will give me one last chance to stand back up from where I fell. Thank you for considering this appeal. </p>